Greetings Burners, Captain Fastly checking in from the fateful Ooligan Airways flight 00G-23. Ooligan Alley are the creators of the legendary rhombic hexecontahedron stage "spikey" at 2&C in 2011.

Genome Laser is an an audacious Burning Man project in collaboration with Control Tower and friends that spans science, technology and art

In the age of the Thomas Crum, landing an aeroplane caused mass hysteria and challenged the belief system of a civilisation. The act of not just recording, but broadcasting in public, for entertainment purposes, the data patterns that not only makes you human, but makes you, you, changes everything.

For the first time in history, at Burning Man 2013, the data from individual human genomes will be broadcast in public via laser beam.

Our mission starts by sequencing the individual human genome. Then, we will encode the 3.2 billion base pairs (ACGT), push the genomic data into custom built pattern generation software that interface with the mammoth 60W laser controller on the Control Tower, and broadcast an incredible light show across the Playa and up into space.

We’re thrilled to be collaborating with the International Arts Megacrew, who built that breathtaking Temple of Transition in 2011, and after a year off are challenging themselves to something completely different with Control Tower, a spectacular interactive landmark that will delight the Playa and act as a beacon for navigation.

Funding Requirements
Building and broadcast the Genome Laser via the Control Tower takes time, but thankfully we have the technical skills and commitment to making this happen on a lower budget. But, we want to go bigger for this project to fulfil it's full potential.

We are seeking to raise $4500 to fund the hardware required to plug into the Control Tower, and also synchronise with a Genome Laser co-located at Ooligan Alley. $3k of the funds raised in this project will be put towards building a co-located laser from our friend Skipp, who provided the lasers to Opulent Temple last year, and a key member of the Control Tower project. So, in other words, by donating to this project you are also helping the Control Tower.

We are building Genome Laser because we can, and because we want to push the boundaries of our imaginations and give something amazing back to the Burning Man community. This is non-profit art project where 100% of the funds raised will be channeled directly into materials - we are paying for our own flights, tickets, food, etc.

Genome Laser is going ahead, it's only a question of how big we can go in terms of co-locational genomic broadcasting. Our core costs include a special laser controller to plug into Control Tower and campaign materials (mission patches, sticker, etc) total $1.5k. Every contribution will be rewarded with a unique and limited edition gifts that have been designed and created with love to send our thanks to all the brilliant people who can help this crazy dream become a reality.

How else you can help?
Even if you cannot make a financial contribution then there are still ways that you can get involved - we're looking for people to help in technical and non-technical roles. Just as the Playa presents a blank canvas for people to construct their wildest dreams, Genome Laser provides a framework for experts in pattern recognition and visualisation to express to unleash on a mind-blowing project. Otherwise you can help by making some noise in your networks, on and off the Playa.

So, is this laser going to paint genome patterns onto commercial aircraft flying between Seattle, Portland, Boise; and Reno, San Diego, and Las Vegas? Those that use flight corridors V165, V113 over both sides of the playa. And the Reno Military Operating Area? A good aiming point for laser guided missles.

I am generally resistent to overly hubristic projects and their fundraising. And I have to support Mr Dragonpilot who nails it.

Directing lasers into potential flight paths is regulated for a reason. Wonder if you and your fiscal agent or donors are owning the criminal and civil liability, to say nothing of deep pockets BMORG itself.

Asking people to contribute to pay for technology to a creatively weak project is not something I would support. You have technology people, let them personally fund it, legally.

These are good and valid points. I'm definitely not a fan of gung ho laser firing at people or into the open sky, and understand that lasers can be dangerous. Safety is the top consideration and we are working with the folks at Control Tower to ensure we're operating within the constraints set about in their safety assessment.

Here's an earlier post from Control Tower that gives me some reassurance:

The co-located laser would be much less powerful than the Control Tower - no more powerful than ones we have used in previous years and pointing in the same kind of direction (i.e. well above head hight but not straight up)

Apologise if the project comes across overly hubristic. We're just a bunch of geeks who like to stay on the positive side of megalomania with a healthy dose of irony. We're super humbled to have the opportunity to make this idea come to life for the Burning Man community and to be collaborating with the fine folks at IAM.

Just to be sure, get an FAA variance, though I doubt any of the laser art projects on the playa obtain one. The guy who did One Mile Clock told me they got or tried to get one, but they took measures to terminate the beam on the hills and ensure that it was defocused enough not to cause any harm at those distances. Their lasers were at shallow angles, which can affect airliners if they're taking off. If the lasers are shooting straight up it is less likely a problem though, as they can't affect commercial airlines at those distances and angles; hopefully anyone skydiving at night avoids the beams.

"The essence of tyranny is not iron law. It is capricious law." -- Christopher Hitchens

As one of the leads on the Control Tower project, I'd like to point out that we have spent several months working with the Artery and Emergency Services Department to arrive at a set of clear operating protocols that will ensure the safety of this particular laser system.

While no one wants another explicit chapter added to the already thickening rulebook at Burning Man, in recent years the proliferation of high powered laser systems, and more troublingly, of high powered hand held lasers, has illuminated the need to develop some sort of "soft" policy to guide and inform high power laser installations - and we are proud to be a founding part of this process.

Our laser crew, UV99, brought the first laser ever to playa, and last year safely operated 84 total watts of laser across three camps at BRC. Most famously, they are responsible for laser operations at Opulent Temple.
Our operators are certified by the FDA Center for Devices and Radiological Health
All lasers operated by UV99 are FAA varianced, but in addition to th FAA, we also coordinate with the railroad and highway patrol. In fact, UV99 are notoriously the ONLY laser group to reliably file for variances on an annual basis, to the extent of receiving a christmas card from the FAA thanking them for their compliance at an event known for its large number of un-varianced lasershows.
All our lasers are calibrated to be eye-safe at 2000 feet, the standard FAA requirement for laser shows.
All our lasers have motion activated cutoffs, so should the tower begin to move etc, lasers will all shut down. Similarly, all lasers have a freeze sutdown function, such that if the scanners lcok up, the beams shut off.
With the exception of occasional sky scanning effects, most of the time our primary laser will be describing beam effects in a 360 degree shallow plane emanating from the top of the tower, high enough to easily clear virtually every structure at the event and terminating into the mountains. Any structure at risk of intersecting the beamswill be entered into our system as a black out zone and we will not shoot beams in that direction.

It's worht noting that though we are bringing a ppowerful laser system, that in no way means anyone else should! Our crew has over 50 years collective experience in laser operations in every environment imaginable, and it is because of this experience and proven safety record that we are confident in our ability to safely operate a 60 watt laser at Burning Man.

Unless you are well versed and experienced in laser operation, Burning Man is NOT the right place to deploy a large scale laser, and we urge people thinking of doing so to speak to ESD first - and of course, we'll be happy to answer questions should you have any...

Lasers are not toys, they are not blinkies - they are very dangerous professional tools and should ony be operated by professionals: if this is not you, we suggest you maybe leave your laser at home...

Excellent to see a professional operation like this when it comes to lasers on the playa. Very few operators of dance camp lasers are as thorough. And you are correct, laser pointers above class 1 are a disaster waiting to happen. As the saying in the industry goes "do not look into the laser with remaining good eye". On playa laser safety class?

Agree with the experimental nature of the event. But I think lasers fall into a harm category that requires some thinking: damage can happen at a distance to people not assuming that risk, it can happen instantly, the event is more a risk because of dark adapted eyes and not everyone is thinking rationally at every moment.

We're making great progress on all fronts, now have three developers on the case (probably four by the end of the week). You can download the latest source code from Github: https://github.com/saynono/QLT_GenomeLaser

so, did this laser project get off the ground? I saw fire shoot out of the poofers on top of the tower and was told there would be a laser on top, but never saw a laser operate from the Control Tower. Did I miss it, or did it not happen?

EspressoDude wrote:so, did this laser project get off the ground? I saw fire shoot out of the poofers on top of the tower and was told there would be a laser on top, but never saw a laser operate from the Control Tower. Did I miss it, or did it not happen?

Good question - I did not see any lasers of the sort pictured, only fire like you had mentioned. Our camp also put out word to our members and collectively pooled $600 for their Indiegogo campaign for the promise of having a laser placed atop our camp in a show of solidarity and community towards helping bring more art to the playa. After numerous attempts on playa to contact and figure out what was up - it simply never came to be and we were never contacted or given any kind of update on the situation (We visited approximately 5x, each time being told either too busy, not now, or to come back tomorrow). I realize these things happen and applaud the scope and scale of the design they were attempting, I just felt a little let down by what was promised compared to what was the reality. I hope they continue to make big and awesome works on playa, I just wish we had a little more transparency into what we were getting into by donating such a large sum (for a small camp) to a single art project. To my knowledge we still have not heard back from their reps after emailing them inquiring about what happened. (Receiving the laser would be a major + in my book)

Don't get me wrong, I feel as though their attempt was a success on many levels (not all of them), and I was proud to donate to a worthy cause, but I just think their build team needs to be a little more forthcoming with information to people they made promises to. Particularly because it made us feel like assholes when we had to explain to everyone that chipped in from our camp (upwards of $50 bucks each in some cases) that they wouldn't be seeing anything for it.

EspressoDude wrote:
Particularly because it made us feel like assholes when we had to explain to everyone that chipped in from our camp (upwards of $50 bucks each in some cases) that they wouldn't be seeing anything for it.

Maybe you can give them a choice:

A) Caveat emptor

B)Cryptos famous line"What would Burning Man be if people did not bite off more than they could chew"

Be careful. You can spend all your money in there..............................Oriental Visitor